Hi Pri! That's just my experience obviously and I think what everyone else has said is also true. UK firms place greater emphasis on social mobility and that obviously has a huge impact on a persons' success at A-Levels so for that reason they are not as strict on A-level grades. Generally, it also depends on the 'status' of the US or UK law firms. For example, Kirkland, Latham, Sidley Austin and Gibson Dunn are the 'best' of the US law firms. Kirkland is top dog particularly for private equity, finance and corporate M&A so I don't think Kirkland views applications as holistically as a magic circle firm. In this case, I would say any magic circle firm, apart from Slaughters, would view an application more holistically than Kirkland. I think once you start networking and learning about the different firms and their cultures/people you get a sense of which ones are more holistic in their approach and which ones are more hard lined in academics. Slaughters for example, is probably the hardest magic circle to get into and honestly most people would tell you they don't view applications holistically. I also think what a lot of firms put on the website doesn't actually reflect their actual practice. Some firms say one thing but don't recruit in that way or other firms look harder to get into but you might realise they are more holistic than some of the ones that say they don't look at A-levels. I would take website information with a pinch of salt. For example, Slaughters has no minimum A-level requirement yet it's one of the hardest firms to get into. Slaughters also says minimum 2.1 but I went to an open day and a recruiter during a networking event literally told me that its so competitive that although a 2.1 is the minimum because they get people with exceptional academics, and "they select the best people" - basically insinuating that the better grades you have the better chance you have for a Slaughters TC. So from that I got the sense that a 2.1 was not good enough for them and if it was between me and another person with a first my work experience would not make my profile stronger/ grades are the most important factor.
I would network with people on LinkedIn, find out their backgrounds etc. I only say US firms are more holistic because through my networking I met people who had strong work experience and very interesting/less conventional profiles and they were at US firms. I have a high 2.1 but I am conscious it's not first. But my experience is more interesting than my academic profile, so when I met a person at Covington who got a TC with a lower 2.1 and he said he had all this interesting experience and that is why the firm chose him, I knew I wanted to apply there. Also my experience is that I have been most successful with US firms. My profile - international & 2.1 from Russell group uni. I got to the interview stage at vinson & elkins, assessment centre at crowell & moring and vacation scheme at white & case. I've applied to A&O, Freshfields, Clifford Chance for vac schemes and TC's multiple times and the most I got was the watson glaser at clifford chance. I got a vac scheme at a silver circle but it was my third application to them and it required attending so many events and putting my face in front of the recruitment team multiple times, whereas I feel like I have not had to do as much to get passed the application stage at US firms. I don't know why but I think my profile specifically is more appealing to US firms. I consider my profile very 'broad' - I have good academics from IGCSE's to IB(A level) and Uni, but not exceptional (I don't have straight A*'s and my lowest gcse grade is B). My background is very international - work experience in different countries in different sectors and industries, study broad, volunteering internationally and i'm also not British. So based on my experience, I have focused on US firms just because I have found UK firms don't like my profile as much. But I will never know because you don't get feedback after a rejection. I can only judge and make sense of where I have been successful and where I have not been, and where my international friends have been successful and I have seen a pattern
